Recent News

Biogas Taita / Iruwa have facilitated a workshop and training on our solar water heating system in Ethiopia for MCMDO-REESDE, a local NGO in Addis Ababa. Part of the objectives was to adjust the Kenyan version to a 100% locally produced Ethiopian version with easily available local materials. Seen the available materials in Ethiopia are significantly different then in Kenya, the team had to overcome some challenges. Though, through creative solutions, Quirin managed to build a complete system which has been put up at the NGO for demonstration. Some further improvements will be made in November, when our team will be back in Addis for the implementation of the Koromi Village project.

It is envisaged to facilitate another training with the Don Bosco Technical school, and build local capacity for local production and distribution of the system in Ethiopia together with MCMDO-REESDE in the longer term.
We are currently discussing a first pilot project with a lodge in Tigray area.

Biogas Taita has just completed a Feasibility Study for the right mix of Biogas and Solar applications with partner MCMDO-REESDE, in remote Koromi Village, Harari Region in Ethiopia., A very interesting project including intensive community engagement, consultation and training, and with the most beautiful people and community. After all, it's all about the people, not the pipes and the panels.

The village is over a 1000 year old and not much has changed over time. Due to deforestation, climate change and increasing drought, overpopulation etc, water and firewood are becoming very hard to access and basically take the entire day to collect by the women in the village. Due to its remoteness, there is no access to electricity and the villagers are unable to develop economic activities, leaving them behind the rest of the country.

Because of the unique community spirit and very organised women's group, Biogas Taita is constructing a 60m3 communal biogas digester with a small kitchen in the Kiosk and with 20 gas balloons and cookers for people to fill and take home on rotating basis. The women are in charge of collecting the cow-dung from their families, and collected over 700 kilos in just one day from 100 families. Furthermore, the project includes a community kitchen/cafe, a solar energy kiosk, solar lanterns and home systems on microloan, biogas balloons for distribution, phone charging station, locally produced low-cost improved cookstoves, fertilizer distribution including donkeys, and fertilizer storage tank and drying bed. WATCH our small video report.

The implementation phase of the project will be in November - December. The project is funded by the French Embassy in Ethiopia, Blue Energy, Synergy Solare and MCMDO.

Our project house is coming along. Once finished it will not only act as a home for the staff of the SOFIs WORLD Foundation and Biogas Taita Project but mainly as a demonstration house for applied technologies and innovative building techniques. Therefore it will be open for interested visitors, universities and local contractors. Also it will be used as a guest house and meeting place for locals, oversee volunteers, students, bird watchers and other visitors.
All walls of the two story house are build from natural and locally available materials like the excavated rough stone, building stone from a nearby quarry, burned clay bricks from the neighboring village and rammed soil using the soil from the excavation. Furthermore, the house is designed for optimal natural light and ventilation as well as for natural temperature and moister control and includes a lot of creative features such as mosaic tiling, naturally grown timber pillars, swahili style ceilings, walls from recycled plastic bottles and glass bottles for light. While the rammed soil and natural stone walls are mostly even left un-plastered all other walls are plastered with lime mortar avoiding cement wherever possible allowing the walls to regulate the inside room climate and make the house a comfortable living space.
Furthermore the house will use biogas from kitchen and animal waste for cooking, urine diversion compost toilets will reduce the amount of water wasted and provide rich fertilizer for the garden, kitchen and bathrooms will get free and sustainably generated hot water all year round from our locally produced solar water heaters while the waste water will be treated naturally through a reed bed filter and reused for irrigation. A solar PV system will provide the electricity for the whole house and a 25 thousand liter rain water tank will store enough water to gap the dry season.

Remember its a demonstration house an meeting space.
Feel free to come, visit and be inspired!

So far, the facility has received quite a number of visitors for not only the toilets, but also many have enjoyed a hot shower heated by our solar water heating systems on the roof. The community members are enjoying the facility, and praised it's cleaniness.

Furthermore, the water kiosk is also doing well, providing many people with clean water at low cost. The biogas is almost full and in the next few weeks we are going to connect the biogas-stove, so the management team can start another generating income activity; cooking chai and snacks on the biogas for selling, and starting collection of other waste that will boost the gas and allows far more cooking hours.
To boost promotion of the services of the facility, a 'promotion' month is planned by the community group for April, and to increase accessibility for children, the price for children will be lowered to only 1 or 2 KSH instead of 5KSH per visit. Other arrangements will be made with the immediate surrounding families to avoid open defecation (monthly small fee for the whole family for unlimited use) etc. We discussed challenges and successes, and have discussed some improvements that can be made, including solution for the intermittent water supply to the facility. Overall, it was a very good meeting and we are looking forward to the next few weeks of development of the services of the facility!

We work with farmers, schools, institutions, hospitals and hotels and recently started working on integrated waste management, water & sanitation and energy solutions in the form of Bio-Waste Centres and sanitation blocks in partnership with other NGOs, companies and the County Government.empowering the community to take action to create a more healthy living environment, while at the same time creating ‘green’ jobs ensuring project sustainability.

Who We Are

Quirin Walter

Founder & Project Manager

Quirin is the founder of Biogas Taita Project and initiated this project in 2009, when he first arrived in Wundanyi as part of a one-year volunteers program. Quirin however had a mission and instead of leaving, he was determined to introduce, promote and start a biogas construction team in Wundanyi. Since then they have built over 350 plants and he has trained over 70 local artisans to become biogas worksmen or supervisors.

Quirin has an unique capacity to translate technology into something valuable, applicable, accessible and easy to use in the development context. His creative thinking and ability to solve problems no matter the limitations found, and within significant cost / budget restraints is remarkable and has been acknowledged by our partners who like his refreshing way of thinking and solving issues, while addressing the needs of the community or other stakeholders perfectly.

Quirin has also been the brain behind the development of our new Solar Water Heating System, which is 100% locally produced in our workshop in Wundanyi.

Fieke Geerts

Project Development Manager

Fieke is a passionate environmentalist focusing on sustainable communities and creating awareness and she worked for big NGO's such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, The Nature Conservation Council of NSW, and as coordinator for a state-wide sustainable living program for ethnic and culturally diverse communities in NSW.

Fieke spent the last two years in Kenya where she was working for the Kenyan Cross and currently in the role of project development role at Biogas Taita, setting up community-led bio-waste centres linking water & sanitation, biogas and waste management waste collection and other innovative applications biogas as part of a more sustainable future environment.

Fieke is an exceptional and creative bridge-builder between various platforms, bringing together people and applied technology, different stakeholders across multiple sectors to develop new innovative programs. Besides her strategic and project management skills, she is also a practical implementer with a 'can do' and an expert in facilitation, mobilizing and engaging communities, behaviour change theory and the actual implementation of a project working directly on the ground.
She is the strategic mind behind our projects, and has developed many partnerships aiming the combine waste management, water & sanitation and energy initiatives, driven by the community.

Carly Mwandigha

Director & Biogas Supervisor

Carly has extensive knowledge of and experience in biogas construction. He works efficiently and delivers good quality work. Carli has built many small scale farmer digesters as well as digesters for schools and our bio-waste centres. With his background as a teacher, Carly is involved as trainer for our biogas in schools program (biogas construction training for masonry students) as well as in the set-up and teaching of the biogas school clubs. Carly is easy to work with and has a great sense of humor. He is reliable and knowledgeable and a great asset to the team. He is furthermore one of the directors of Biogas Taita Limited.

Felix Walter

Design & Public Relations

Felix has created the identity for the project and is our fantastistic graphic designer, film maker and anything that has to do with image, promotion, and visuals. Felix has been involved since the start of the project and has made a beautiful documentary about the biogas project which has been screened in Europe as part of our fundraising campaign. Felix is assisting fundraising in Germany with images, photos and materials, and is also assisting the team in Kenya with brochures and not to forget, this wonderful website!